Brother from Another Mother
by KCKibbles
Summary: After being forced into a contest for the best brother and sister relationship, Candace is paired with Ferb, while Stacy gets to borrow Phineas. Candace never really knew her own stepbrother, yet he knew all about her.


**AN: **I was going to make this longer, maybe do the whole story, but honestly I don't feel like it. Hopefully I will want to finish this.

_There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother. ~Astrid Alauda_

"Candace! You have to see this! Look, look, look, look, look!" Stacy Hirano shouted to her best friend as she ran up to her. Candace sighed and looked at her, knowing Stacy sometimes got worked up for nothing, especially when they were shopping at a mall…like now. "Look, I found the perfect thing for you and your brothers!"

"Ugh, no way." Candace said, sticking out her tongue. "Anything that has to do with those twerps usually ends up with me getting hurt or embarrassed!"

Stacy stuffed a flier in her hand anyway, waiting for Candace to read it before she began to talk again. "It's a big sister-little brother contest thing! The brother dresses this sister up in whatever he wants, and the sister writes something about her relationship with her brother!"

"Hmm, my relationship with my brothers…they're annoying little twerps! I think the judges are probably looking for something more positive than that."

"_Jeremy's_ mom is one of the judges. So Jeremy may be there."

Candace froze for a moment, then waved her hand as if to shoo her away. "Jeremy and I are boyfriend and girlfriend, I see him a lot. Besides, he doesn't know if I know about th-"

"Oh hey Candace!"

Candace whipped around and saw Jeremy standing right behind her. "J-J-Jeremy! What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her and looked at the flier she was holding. "I was just putting up the fliers actually. I'm glad to see you and one of your brothers is going to participate." Candace's mouth dropped open. Stacy went to Candace's side and looked at the flier again.

"I wish I could do something like that, but I don't have a brother." Stacy said, frowning.

"Hey, it doesn't really have to be _your_ brother. I'm sure Candace will let you borrow one of hers if you really want to do it." Jeremy said, giving them both forms to fill out. "You can write about your experience with your "new" brother."

"I…I…" Candace bit her lip, shifting uncomfortably. She glanced over at Stacy who was filling the form out already. "Yeah, I'll be there. Stacy and I will share my brothers."

"That's great! I'll see you two this afternoon then." Jeremy smiled and jogged to an escalator. Candace stared after him as he went, then turned on Stacy, her face red with fury.

"_Stacy!_ How could you do that? Now I have to show up!"

"It'll be fun, you'll see." Stacy chirped, unfazed by Candace's outrage. "Let's go to your house, we should have signed up yesterday! We only have a few hours to get ready." She grabbed Candace's wrist and dragged her out of the mall.

Even with Candace's complaining and reluctance, they arrived at the Flynn-Fletcher household, pushing the gate to the backyard open. Candace stepped in before Stacy and took a deep breath. Under the tree in the middle of the yard was Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella, surrounded by blueprints and Ferb's laptop. She strode over to them, her chest puffed out. Stacy practically skipped behind her, not noticing Candace's superior façade as she greeted the children with a cheery "Hello." Candace just rolled her eyes.

"Phineas, Ferb, stop planning. I know what you're going to do today." Candace said, standing over them. The two simply stared at her for a few seconds before putting their things away quietly. Isabella sighed, disappointed that she apparently wouldn't have something interesting to do today.

"So, what's up Candace?" Phineas asked.

"Stacy and I are entering a contest, and we need little brothers."

"Well, being little brothers happens to be one of our specialties." Phineas said, winking at Ferb.

"Right." Candace sighed. "Phineas, you're with me, and Ferb, you're going to be Stacy's brother for a day."

"Why does it have to be that way?" Isabella spoke up. "What if Phineas wants to go with Stacy, and Ferb wants to go with you?"

"She's got a point, Candace." Stacy said. Candace glared at the two of them. Were they _trying_ to make things difficult?

"Ferb and I don't really mind who we get paired with, what exactly are we doing anyway?"

"_Fine_, we'll flip a coin. Heads, I get Ferb, tails, Phineas." Candace murmured, ignoring Phineas' question. Stacy explained to him instead while Candace searched for a coin. When Phineas understood, he grinned.

"Well, looks like Ferb and I are gonna be fashion designers again!" Phineas said, standing up to look at Candace who had just flipped a coin.

Heads.

"Um…how about two out of three?"

"What's wrong with Ferb?" Stacy asked, looking confused.

"Nothing…" Candace mumbled, glancing at Ferb. He was emotionless as usual and didn't seem to care Candace apparently preferred Phineas.

"I think Candace should stay with Ferb." Isabella said. "It's about sibling bonding, isn't it? I've never actually _seen_ you two sit down and bond."

"Well yeah…I-I guess you're right." Candace said. She averted her eyes. "At least Jeremy will know I tried."

"Yeah, and besides, you and Ferb hardly spend any time together!" Phineas said, patting Ferb on the back. His stepbrother responded by just rolling his eyes. "So, see you guys later, I'm gonna go shopping with my new sister."

"Awesome!" Stacy cheered, steering Phineas toward her favorite shopping places.

Ferb and Candace watched the two disappear out of their sight while Isabella stood and brushed herself off. "So you two are really going to be doing this then?" she asked.

Ferb nodded while Candace just shrugged.

"I guess." Candace said. "What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Just earn badges, I'll see you guys later, good luck." Isabella said, exiting the yard and leaving Candace and Ferb alone. Candace twirled her hair, waiting for either Ferb to speak or for something she could say to pop in her mind. Ferb stared at her for a long time, making the whole situation even more awkward.

"Ok…so if you're gonna dress me up…." Candace said. "Make me look beautiful! I want to impress Jeremy. And I know I didn't want to enter in the first place, but it would be nice if I won, do a good job. Do you have any ideas?"

Ferb blinked, then put a finger to his chin as he thought. Suddenly he snapped his fingers and pulled out what looked like a blueprint, but Candace stopped him.

"_Oh_ no, we're not building anything. No giant fashion mall, spa, clothes store, or hair place, we just need clothes and make-up for me, ok? Building something would be a waste of time." she said, frowning. Ferb raised it higher and opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him. "I'm not Phineas, and this isn't a plan to take up our day! We only have a few hours!"

She stood up straighter and crossed her arms, waiting for him to say something. He stared at her again, then at his paper. After a moment, he put it away and stood, walking to the exit of the backyard. Candace hesitantly followed him, completely unsure of where he was going.


End file.
